Noah Cheploen
16 March 2008
Nairobi — Kanu leaders from Rift Valley have demanded that the party holds a national delegates conference to "chart its future."
The group of former MPs and branch officials said time had come for the party to be revamped to reverse its declining fortunes after it teamed up with other parties in PNU in last year's elections.
The leaders, who spoke in Nakuru also endorsed former Baringo Central MP Gideon Moi as their spokesman.
They claimed the party had been given a raw deal in PNU and declared they would now negotiate as "an independent entity."
"This meeting is not targeting any individual but something has to start somewhere. KANU has ignored Rift Valley," said former Bomet MP Nick Salat who together with former Health Minister Paul Sang, spoke on behalf of the group.
The group threatened to pull out of PNU if the party was not handed one of the two deputy prime minister posts.
Mr Salat said Kanu chairman Mr Uhuru Kenyatta should fight it out with other members from the party for the deputy PM position.
The meeting also declared support for the National Peace Accord signed by President Mwai Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga and called for a total overhaul of the Constitution.
Kanu would not support piecemeal changes to the Constitution as this will only suit individual interests, they added. Former Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation (MYWO) chairperson Zipporah Kittony was also in attendance.
Mr Moi said KANU supported PNU in last year's elections but added that it was now time for the party to fight for its interests.
He said vacant positions at the branch and district levels occasioned by mass defections will be filled soon.
The leaders said they will promote peace across the province but urged the Government to take immediate action to restore calm in Molo.
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